Q: Compare and contrast a Sony Walkman with an Apple iPod, and describe the differences in their physical construction, interface design, technology and delivery of sound. Quick sketches are helpful for this analytical process.
The Sony walkman in its early life was seen as a revolution. The ability to record and playback audio in a mobile device was fascinating since prior to the walkman you would need a large boom-box or recording studio to achieve such a feats. However, comparing the Walkman to the iPod isn’t a fair comparison in my opinion. Sure one can compare the physical advancements in the iPod and the multitude of advancements when it comes to user interface, sound quality, and advancements in technology; but it only illustrates the fact that technology as a whole has advanced – just as the cassette had advanced from the 8-track – which advanced from vinyl discs.
Physically the Walkman is obviously less aesthetically pleasing. The Walkman is bulky and had hard buttons on it to achieve a task, versus the iPod’s swift digital menu features along with touch screen capabilities. The walkman delivers sound from an analogue source, which is susceptible to interference and damages; whereas the iPod uses digital media which cannot be damaged unless the hard drive of the device fails- and for the consumer, this is usually covered by the manufacturer’s warranty.
It is more reasonable to compare products from the same generation for analytical purposes on performance. The purpose of this lab seems to be to note the advancements in technological possibilities; that is obvious, but the way in which the technology is conglomerated in the iPod really revolutionizes the way it differs from the Sony Walkman.
LAB 2
Q:1. Under each of the six categories, shelter, health, water, education, energy and transport, choose one project which interests you. For each category, describe how it is designed to alleviate poverty for the project's stakeholders. (6 categories x 1 paragraph = 6 paragraphs)
2. How does stakeholder analysis enable sustainable and socially responsible design? (1 paragraph)
3. List five characteristics of socially responsible product design. (List of 5 points)
1) Shelter:
Following Hurricane Katrina many homes in New Orleans were damaged or destroyed. The University of Texas and its design department come up with an initiative to bring economic relief and skill trade to an already ravaged state preceding the Hurricane, and a hopeless state following it. This initiative alleviates poverty as it generates skilled workers in craftsmanship and employed individuals who would otherwise be unemployed. It also puts roofs over people’s heads again to allow them to carry on with their life.
2) Health:
Lifestraw is an ingenious invention. The purification at the source of the drinking tool that is being used makes so much sense. If it can filter out all the bad bacteria which harms children (about 9000 die daily) then it is a step in the right direction. Having pure water should be a right, not a privilege – unfortunately it is the otherway around and this is a great solution to be integrated with “the other 90%”. This product alleviates poverty because it leads to less sick children who require less medical attention who live longer and can be producers within their economy for future generations.
3) Water:
The Q Drum is a simple solution to a major problem. Many millions of people live kilometres away from any clean water source. The Q Drum allows for a large container to be filled with water and rolled long distances to people in need of water. The process requires participation from community members, but it allows for massive amounts of water to be brought in without any outside assistance. This is one way it helps to alleviate any poverty within the area. Additionally, the cost of the drums is fairly low and can be purchased as a donation by many organizations. Each drum provides 75 litres which can help a lot of people!
4) Education:
In many parts of Africa a large portion of the population is illiterate which really trumps their ability to be economically and socially accepted. Having the knowledge to read should be a requirement for all people. It allows for the gap in the intellectual divide to shrink and for individuals to develop their communities rationally and this in turn will generate educated children who can help alleviate poverty in their communities though advancements in infrastructure.
5) Energy
Starsight is something that could take off in a couple of years for developing countries. To shrink the digital divide, less developed counties need a solution for internet infrastructure. The starsight system provides solar powered lighting and access to wireless internet all in one unit. If enough of these are set up and access to laptops is made easily available, people in developing countries can contribute to the online environment and join the technological revolution. This will ensure that these areas don’t get left behind with the technical uproar.
6) Pot-in-Pot cooler
This is a very clever idea to keep vegetables fresh from the farm. By having a pot filled with sand and water under another pot with the vegetables in it, the process is using Mother Nature’s gift to keep the vegetables fresh until sold. This inevitably leads to higher profits because more vegetables stay fresh longer.
When any stakeholder takes part in an initiative to help impoverished nations, they do so with calculated risks and benefits. Many companies donate to projects on the scale of how good it will make their image look and unfortunately only donate to projects which receive publicity. Other, smaller initiatives are often forgot about. However, to ensure sustainable and socially responsible design they must do some preliminary research to figure out if the area in question is indeed in need of the products being sent to them and if the design facilitates their specific needs.
Five points for socially responsible design:
Affordable
Safe
Intuitive
Accessible
Durable/energy efficient
LAB 3
Q1: In three paragraphs, describe the role of Jan Chipchase in defining the role of cellphones in the developing world for Nokia, and the benefits of analyzing and defining their use in different cultures as part of their market expansion.
Chipchase bridges the gap between the poor locals of the poverty struck rural and urban areas of the developing world and the Research and Development, the design and the marketing departments of a major cell phone manufacturer. he does this through extensively examining the locals' way of life and in many cases adopting it himself. He learns how a local lives, where he/she spends their money, who they communicate with, why and how often and also what their financial priorities are. With this knowledge he educates the different departments of the cell phone manufacturer so that they can can adjust the product and its price point to fill the needs of that market.
As a part of this analysis Chipchase spots and suggests ways in which a cell phone is and can be used to solve certain problems experienced by different individuals in the community. For example, his 'just on time' demonstration with the author of the article outlined the benefits having a cell phone could have on locals in terms of saving time and forwarding important instructions. other applications were also mentioned that increase sales and facilitate other business processes. To the big picture this can mean a 0.5% increase in GDP for every increase of 10 mobiles per 100 (London School of Business).
Cell phones also have other roles. one primary role of the cell phone in the developing world that seems very strange to us in the western society is its role as a device for the transfer of funds.
Q2: How does the idea of microfinance support two of the key themes of sustainability as outlined in the diagram posted on your class wiki '5 Key Themes for Sustainability'? Write one paragraph for each of your chosen themes.
Not everyone can afford even small purchases like a mobile phone. these people also usually do not use banks so they have no access to buying goods (including many necessities) on credit. Micro financing gives these people opportunities to fulfill their needs by giving them extremely small loans to fund these purchases. This assists in their well-being and helps provide equal opportunity for all. when this micro-loan is used to make a business related purchase, it serves more than just to satisfy the needs of one person or one family, it opens up the doors for them to raise their standard of living and in-turn one at a time their local community will also rise. in this way micro-financing contributes to a community's future and social cohesion.
Promoting Good Governance:
Micro financing promotes participative systems by giving everyone a chance participate in the global economy with even a small contribution. no one's energy and creativity will be wasted just because they do not have the funds to funnel their energy to generate a positive outcome. Micro financing give local entrepreneurs a chance to obtain small funds for their business and hence society's human resources are not wasted.
LAB 4
Annie Leonard describes the material economy as a process of how the things we buy are made. Living in a developed nation consuming as much as we possibly can we often forget the ecological footprint this can have on the world. Leonard describes the material economy as a sum of five stages: extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal. These stages all are a contributing factor to the ecological footprint and are interrelated. It is a linear flow of steps but the outcome of each step is the same.She organizes the steps clearly and labels them. This helps to follow the flow of information and the steps in the materials economy. She also uses jokes to make her point more obvious and the information less boring and more entertaining.
Extraction
This is the first step of the materials economy. It is when big business people go to other countries to find raw materials for the production of things. They extract natural resources and leave by polluting the area.
Production
It is the process in which raw materials are processes and changed to create into goods for the economy. This is raw material carries with it much toxin which is released into the air and hurts the workers working to make the goods. Workers in the area are exposed to the toxins which move along to the next step in the process.
Distribution
This is the stage in which the finished goods are distributed to various markets in the world. This is another rich source of pollution. With a constant flow trucks and ships and other carriers to distribute the goods.
Consumption
This is process in which the toxins are consumed. the toxin filled goods are made available to consumers with fixed prices. These prices are not considered the right price because there is no way to repay for the damage that is made to the environment. For example unless for creating a good you plant the same number as trees you chopped down to reduce toxins the price is never repaid.
Disposal
Depending on the goods usability this is the process in which used goods are discarded. This is process in which most of the pollution is created. When a good is consumed and is no longer of value is is discarded. This is where it may be burned releasing many more toxins in the air.
Annie Leonard organizes the materials economy in a flash presentation very effectively. She uses effective vocabulary and appropriate jokes to compose an entertaining lesson on the material economy. It is easy to follow and simple to understand.
The chapters are organized as tabs on the top of the presentation, where you are able to scroll through manually and are highlighted as they move through the movie. The links for more information open up to a neat and easy to understand pages. The animation is simple concise and to the point. It is not cluttered with elaborate and beautiful drawings. The use of the simple moving stick figures makes it easier to follow along the whole animation.
Table of Contents
LAB 1
Q: Compare and contrast a Sony Walkman with an Apple iPod, and describe the differences in their physical construction, interface design, technology and delivery of sound. Quick sketches are helpful for this analytical process.The Sony walkman in its early life was seen as a revolution. The ability to record and playback audio in a mobile device was fascinating since prior to the walkman you would need a large boom-box or recording studio to achieve such a feats. However, comparing the Walkman to the iPod isn’t a fair comparison in my opinion. Sure one can compare the physical advancements in the iPod and the multitude of advancements when it comes to user interface, sound quality, and advancements in technology; but it only illustrates the fact that technology as a whole has advanced – just as the cassette had advanced from the 8-track – which advanced from vinyl discs.
Physically the Walkman is obviously less aesthetically pleasing. The Walkman is bulky and had hard buttons on it to achieve a task, versus the iPod’s swift digital menu features along with touch screen capabilities. The walkman delivers sound from an analogue source, which is susceptible to interference and damages; whereas the iPod uses digital media which cannot be damaged unless the hard drive of the device fails- and for the consumer, this is usually covered by the manufacturer’s warranty.
It is more reasonable to compare products from the same generation for analytical purposes on performance. The purpose of this lab seems to be to note the advancements in technological possibilities; that is obvious, but the way in which the technology is conglomerated in the iPod really revolutionizes the way it differs from the Sony Walkman.
LAB 2
Q:1. Under each of the six categories, shelter, health, water, education, energy and transport, choose one project which interests you. For each category, describe how it is designed to alleviate poverty for the project's stakeholders. (6 categories x 1 paragraph = 6 paragraphs)2. How does stakeholder analysis enable sustainable and socially responsible design? (1 paragraph)
3. List five characteristics of socially responsible product design. (List of 5 points)
1) Shelter:
- Following Hurricane Katrina many homes in New Orleans were damaged or destroyed. The University of Texas and its design department come up with an initiative to bring economic relief and skill trade to an already ravaged state preceding the Hurricane, and a hopeless state following it. This initiative alleviates poverty as it generates skilled workers in craftsmanship and employed individuals who would otherwise be unemployed. It also puts roofs over people’s heads again to allow them to carry on with their life.
2) Health:- Lifestraw is an ingenious invention. The purification at the source of the drinking tool that is being used makes so much sense. If it can filter out all the bad bacteria which harms children (about 9000 die daily) then it is a step in the right direction. Having pure water should be a right, not a privilege – unfortunately it is the otherway around and this is a great solution to be integrated with “the other 90%”. This product alleviates poverty because it leads to less sick children who require less medical attention who live longer and can be producers within their economy for future generations.
3) Water:- The Q Drum is a simple solution to a major problem. Many millions of people live kilometres away from any clean water source. The Q Drum allows for a large container to be filled with water and rolled long distances to people in need of water. The process requires participation from community members, but it allows for massive amounts of water to be brought in without any outside assistance. This is one way it helps to alleviate any poverty within the area. Additionally, the cost of the drums is fairly low and can be purchased as a donation by many organizations. Each drum provides 75 litres which can help a lot of people!
4) Education:- In many parts of Africa a large portion of the population is illiterate which really trumps their ability to be economically and socially accepted. Having the knowledge to read should be a requirement for all people. It allows for the gap in the intellectual divide to shrink and for individuals to develop their communities rationally and this in turn will generate educated children who can help alleviate poverty in their communities though advancements in infrastructure.
5) Energy- Starsight is something that could take off in a couple of years for developing countries. To shrink the digital divide, less developed counties need a solution for internet infrastructure. The starsight system provides solar powered lighting and access to wireless internet all in one unit. If enough of these are set up and access to laptops is made easily available, people in developing countries can contribute to the online environment and join the technological revolution. This will ensure that these areas don’t get left behind with the technical uproar.
6) Pot-in-Pot coolerWhen any stakeholder takes part in an initiative to help impoverished nations, they do so with calculated risks and benefits. Many companies donate to projects on the scale of how good it will make their image look and unfortunately only donate to projects which receive publicity. Other, smaller initiatives are often forgot about. However, to ensure sustainable and socially responsible design they must do some preliminary research to figure out if the area in question is indeed in need of the products being sent to them and if the design facilitates their specific needs.
Five points for socially responsible design:
LAB 3
Q1: In three paragraphs, describe the role of Jan Chipchase in defining the role of cellphones in the developing world for Nokia, and the benefits of analyzing and defining their use in different cultures as part of their market expansion.Chipchase bridges the gap between the poor locals of the poverty struck rural and urban areas of the developing world and the Research and Development, the design and the marketing departments of a major cell phone manufacturer. he does this through extensively examining the locals' way of life and in many cases adopting it himself. He learns how a local lives, where he/she spends their money, who they communicate with, why and how often and also what their financial priorities are. With this knowledge he educates the different departments of the cell phone manufacturer so that they can can adjust the product and its price point to fill the needs of that market.
As a part of this analysis Chipchase spots and suggests ways in which a cell phone is and can be used to solve certain problems experienced by different individuals in the community. For example, his 'just on time' demonstration with the author of the article outlined the benefits having a cell phone could have on locals in terms of saving time and forwarding important instructions. other applications were also mentioned that increase sales and facilitate other business processes. To the big picture this can mean a 0.5% increase in GDP for every increase of 10 mobiles per 100 (London School of Business).
Cell phones also have other roles. one primary role of the cell phone in the developing world that seems very strange to us in the western society is its role as a device for the transfer of funds.
Q2: How does the idea of microfinance support two of the key themes of sustainability as outlined in the diagram posted on your class wiki '5 Key Themes for Sustainability'? Write one paragraph for each of your chosen themes.
Not everyone can afford even small purchases like a mobile phone. these people also usually do not use banks so they have no access to buying goods (including many necessities) on credit. Micro financing gives these people opportunities to fulfill their needs by giving them extremely small loans to fund these purchases. This assists in their well-being and helps provide equal opportunity for all. when this micro-loan is used to make a business related purchase, it serves more than just to satisfy the needs of one person or one family, it opens up the doors for them to raise their standard of living and in-turn one at a time their local community will also rise. in this way micro-financing contributes to a community's future and social cohesion.
Promoting Good Governance:
Micro financing promotes participative systems by giving everyone a chance participate in the global economy with even a small contribution. no one's energy and creativity will be wasted just because they do not have the funds to funnel their energy to generate a positive outcome. Micro financing give local entrepreneurs a chance to obtain small funds for their business and hence society's human resources are not wasted.
LAB 4
Annie Leonard describes the material economy as a process of how the things we buy are made. Living in a developed nation consuming as much as we possibly can we often forget the ecological footprint this can have on the world. Leonard describes the material economy as a sum of five stages: extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal. These stages all are a contributing factor to the ecological footprint and are interrelated. It is a linear flow of steps but the outcome of each step is the same.She organizes the steps clearly and labels them. This helps to follow the flow of information and the steps in the materials economy. She also uses jokes to make her point more obvious and the information less boring and more entertaining.Extraction
Production
Distribution
Consumption
Disposal
Annie Leonard organizes the materials economy in a flash presentation very effectively. She uses effective vocabulary and appropriate jokes to compose an entertaining lesson on the material economy. It is easy to follow and simple to understand.
The chapters are organized as tabs on the top of the presentation, where you are able to scroll through manually and are highlighted as they move through the movie. The links for more information open up to a neat and easy to understand pages. The animation is simple concise and to the point. It is not cluttered with elaborate and beautiful drawings. The use of the simple moving stick figures makes it easier to follow along the whole animation.